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New York has just passed a bill banning the sale of foie gras from force-fed birds in the city thanks to the cruelty inflicted on animals to make the product.
Restaurants and grocery stores in New York will no longer be allowed to sell foie gras from force-fed birds amid animal cruelty concerns after the bill passed the city council Wednesday.
The ban, which will come into effect in 2022, will see violators receive fines of up to $2,000 and face a civic penalty.
Carlina Rivera, a Manhattan councilwoman who sponsored the foie gras legislation, said her bill “tackles the most inhumane process” in the commercial food industry. “This is one of the most violent practices and it’s done for a purely luxury product,” she said.
Significant welfare issues
The significant welfare issues surrounding the foie-gras production are well documented and mainly focus on force-feeding, through a practice called ‘gavaging’, and poor housing. This barbaric practice sees the birds being force-fed a tremendous amount of grain using a tube fed by a pneumatic or hydraulic pump that is both cruel and damaging to the birds’ health.
Only male ducklings are used in French foie-gras production, as they put on weight quicker and their livers are less veinous. Almost all females are killed at a day or two old, either by being gassed or thrown alive into industrial macerators.
